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PAPERS ON SCHOOL fSSUl. S OF THE DA Y. X. 



ORGANIZATION AND SYSTEM 



-vs. 



ORIGINALITY AND INDIVIDOALITY 



On the Part of Teacher and Pupil. 



-by- 






HENRY S^lBIINT, 



State Superintendent, Iowa. 



A Paper read before the National Educational Associa- 
tion, at St. Pate. Mixx.. July, 1890. 



•li-. 







SYRACUSE, X. Y. : 

C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER. 
1890. 






THE SVUOUL JSUHjUjIIjS PUBLICATIONS.- 



Books of Reference. 

The distinctive feature of a scholar's library is the large proportion of 
its books of reference. Education does not fill up a man with information : 
it teaches him where to go for information when he wants it, and gives him 
the habit of going for it when he wants it. This requires that he have at 
hand the books he will most frequently refer to. After the dictionary, 
among those most important to the teacher are the following : 

1. Tlie Cyclopaedia of Education. Cloth, 8vo, pp. 562, $3.75. 

This compares with other books on education as the dictionary com- 
pares with the spelling-book. The latter is useful, but the former is indis- 
pensable. In the latter ycu may find the word you want ; in the former yon 
are sure to. This is a day when teachers must be well informed. Here are 
some of the topics you may be asked questions about, or may want to in- 
form yourself about : Festalozzi, Comenius, Object Teaching, Ascham, Eroebel, 
Thomas Arnold, The. Kindergarten, Horace Mann, School Management, Indus- 
trial Education, School Economy, German Schools, School Law, Slojd, etc., etc 
You may be sure you can find all of these topics and scores more like them 
in this book. It is the Pedagogical Unabridged Dictionary, and every ener- 
getic teacher must have it. 

2. A Pocket Hand-book of Biography, by Henry Frederic Reddall. 
Cloth, 16mo, pp. 203, 75 cts. 

This handy volume contains more than ten thousand names of cele- 
brities in every sphere of human action, showing then- nationality, rank or 
condition, profession or occupation, the dates of their birth and death, and 
effectually answers the frequent query,— " WHO WAS HE?" The Cyclo- 
pcedia Britannica is a bigger book and gives fuller information, but you 
will use this little volume a hundred times where you wouldn't take the 
trouble to look up a reference to a bigger one. 

3. The Beady Beference Law Manual. By E. E. Knott. Cloth, 8vo, 
pp. 331, $2.00. 

This gives just the information that every intelligent person should 
possess. 

It is not meant for Lawyers, but for those who are not lawyers. It 
gives clearly and simply the provisions of the law that concern every man, 
and of which it sometimes costs a man a good deal to be ignorant. Capital- 
ists often make their sons regularly admitted lawyers, not with any view to 
practice, but that they may be able to protect the property they will inherit. 
Even the man of little property, or dependent on a salary from which he 
can not save much, should know the most important features of the law. 
The little needs protection even more than the much, for loss is more dis- 
astrous. 

U. Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. By Peter Mark Roget. 
Cloth, 12mo, pp. 710, $2.00. 

For acquiring an extensive vocabulary that will enable one to rise just 
the li'jht word in the right place, this work has no equal. For illustration 
of its usefulness, see Bardeen's Complete Bhetoric, pp. 401-403. 

C. W. BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. 



ORGANIZATION AND SYSTEM VS. ORIGINALITY AND INDI- 
VIDUALITY ON THE PART OF TEACHER AND PUPIL. 



HENRY SABIN, STATE SUPERINTENDENT, IOWA. 



i A paper read before the National Educational Association, at St. Paul. Minn., July, 1890. 

I desire to enter a plea for the child ; to recall the almost forgotten fact 
that the supreme object of the child's education is the child himself. Organ- 
ization and system are but means to an end. They form the machinery for 
running the schools, and within proper limits are a necessity. We are willing 
to concede to them all they can claim, when viewed from a business standpoint. 
"What is the machine good for?" finds its answer in the value of the product. 
The school must be organized on business principles, as a man organizes the 
forces in his store or his factory, in order that the labors of the teacher may 
be as productive as possible. In every school there must be a right order of 
studies, an orderly succession of steps in each study, and a rigid economy of 
time. 

In addition, it must be granted that organization and system are very im- 
portant aids in the formation of correct and exact habit of action, which is 
one of the main objects to be kept in mind, during the child's life at school. 
To be accustomed to follow a daily routine of work; to do certain things at 
fixed times ; to be guided by the hands of the clock ; to be trained to regu- 
larity and promptness; to allow neither time nor energy to run to waste 
through misdirected efforts, tends to fit the child for the struggles of business 
life. 

The odds and ends, the products of the child's whims and notions, which 
are often woven together, or carefully tied up in a bundle, and labeled educa- 
tion, form no substantial foundation upon which to build a noble character. 
There must be direction, order, system, force, during the formative period of 
the child's life, if we expect them to appear in his mature years. 

But organization and system have their limitations. The extremes of or- 
ganization are seen in the school in one direction, when there is a conspicuous 
absence of any plan or method of procedure; and in the other direction, 
when the martinet predominates, and the children are robbed of their right 
to be children. The extremes of system are seen in the schools, in one direc- 
tion, when a weak, uncertain, vacillating hand fails to control, or when a dull, 
plodding, sluggish brain fails to inspire and stimulate. In such conditions, 
laziness cloaks itself under the name of conservatism, and indolence clings to 
that which is old, simply because it has not life enough in its dry bones to in- 
vestigate the claims of the new. 

The extreme of system is seen in the other direction, when one mind dom- 
inates everything, traces every line, marks out every rut, and points out every 



2 THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

step. So many pages and no more, " must be done " this week ; such expla- 
nations must be given at this step, and woe be to the teacher who gives any 
> other. In such a system the three R's are no longer "Reading, 'Ritin' and 
'Rithmetic," but Rules, Regulations, and Reports. No account is taken of 
the personal element in teaching. The right to assert oneself is denied both 
teacher and pupil. The whole process becomes simply a repetition of the 
children's game, "Follow your leader." The examination is made the line 
which separates the sheep from the goats; and the nervous, anxious child 
views its approach with about as much fear and trembling as one would the 
approach of the day of judgment. The results of the examination determine 
the character of the teacher, and the standing of the scholar. There is no 
appeal allowed from that tribunal. The despotism of "per cent." allows no 
rival. 

This extreme elaboration of system gives us symmetry and uniformity, but 
it is at the expense of strength and growth. It promotes smoothness, pre- 
vents friction, attains exactness of detail, but it crushes out all life, energy, 
freshness and enthusiasm, and exalts itself to the chief place in the school. 
The child is absolutely forgotten in the worship and homage which is paid 
to the system. 

The present tendency is in two directions. In our larger cities, where the 
press of public opinion is most felt, there is a very decided disposition to de- 
throne the system, and enthrone the school. In methods of instruction and 
discipline the teacher is accorded greater freedom of choice, and there is a 
corresponding increase in the respect which is due the individual rights of the 
pupil. On the other hand, I regret to say, in our smaller towns the machine 
seems to have taken a fresh lease of life ; so that a school which has but six 
rooms will- have as many grades, the same attenuated course of study, and as 
much machinery, as the schools of a large city. 

It is not to be inferred by any means that organization and system are of 
necessity destructive of individuality on the part of teacher or pupil. This 
haj)pens only when they pass beyond their true limitations. It is not freedom 
to teach, as much as it is freedom to grow ; not freedom from restraint, but 
liberty to develop into a skilled workman through the inspiration of thought, 
which we desire for the teacher. If to attain it we must destroy some one's 
pet system, then let the system perish. In the midst of the responsibilities 
which the public are throwing upon the school, we are beginning to see the 
great need of having teachers who possess brains. But the machine has no 
conception of the need of brains. The system does not permit the use of 
brains. A brainy teacher is apt to make trouble for the system. The think- 
ing, the planning is all done before the work comes to the teacher's hands. 
He must not question, he must acquiesce. We are often told that we must 
put the whole boy at school. The whole boy will not stay in school, unless 
he finds the whole teacher there to instruct him. The noblest type of Ameri- 
can teacher, the only type worth having, is the teacher with brains. 



ORGANIZATION VS. ORIGINALITY. 



While a little company of mourners were standing about the grave of 
Lucretia Mott, in solemn silence, as is the Quaker custom, a voice said: 
"Will no one say anything?" And another answered: "Who can speak? 
The preacher is dead." There was a whole sermon in those words. That 
which made her a power among men, which enabled her to sway the great 
audience by her simple words, as the grain is moved by the breeze, passed out 
of the world when she died. 

Beyond and separate from this body, which is animate to-day and inani- 
mate to-morrow, there is an energy, self-active, persistent, self-directive; an 
individuality through which man identifies himself; a force through which he 
approaches his ideal; a self-consciousness through which he comes ultimately 
to grasp his relations to himself, his fellow-man, and his Creator. It is in- 
separable from the man. It is the mystery of existence, the essence of im- 
mortality, the riddle of the soul. We come into the world alone, we dwell in 
it alone, w T e go out of it alone. Not until we face death can we comprehend 
what we mean by individuality. This individuality which is born with the 
child, which embraces not only the power to know, but the capability to feel 
and to will, which attends every step of his physical, mental, and moral 
growth, which is seen iu every action, heard in every word, and felt in every 
heart-throb, is the one thing which we ought to respect in the child's educa- 
tion. It dawns upon the child first as existence, then as power, then as duty, 
then as determination. Some one expresses it: "I am, I can, I ought, I 
will" — the four most expressive words in the language. It is the key-note 
to the child's character. The scheme of education which does not take it into 
account is absolutely worthless. 

Originality is of a lower degree than individuality. It is a coin which has 
its value, but it is of baser metal. Originality marks a man as peculiar in 
action, speech, or thought. It is not always a commendable trait in a teacher 
or pupil, and often needs to be rigidly restrained. There is nothing more 
domineering than originality in some of its forms. It is often only the outer 
manifestation of an inherited propensity. In the school-room, if it is ac- 
companied with profound thought, it is a help ; if it is only a personal eccen- 
tricity, it is a hinderance. 

A man of intense individuality is usually a man of strong convictions ; he 
is tenacious of purpose ; his ideas are clear and shar]) ; his expressions leave 
no doubt as to his meaning. The .character within looks out of the eyes, 
speaks in the voice, and manifests its strength and purpose in the whole bear- 
ing of the person. Thought is the only thing which makes a man self-reliant. 
The great teachers of the world have been thinkers. We cannot test their 
work by any system of examinations however skillfully devised; we cannot 
ascertain its true worth by apparent results. Results are exceedingly de- 
ceptive. We must know how they have been attained ; how much time has 
been wasted; how much energy and strength have been dissipated; what 
faulty processes of instruction are covered up under the beautiful finish of 
the exterior, before we pronounce the results satisfact< try. 



4 THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

It is one of the tricks of the system to throw the untrained teacher upon 
his own resources, and leave him to stand or fall by the results of his work 
as tested by the examination of his pupils. I hold that no teacher is fit for 
his place who is not fit to examine his own pupils, and to pass upon the 
character of his own work. 

But I wish not to be misunderstood. Freedom is not license, originality is 
not eccentricity. Organization may be so wisely directed, and ' system built 
upon so broad a basis, as to be a help and not a hinderance. Rules and reg- 
ulations may be so framed as to aid the teacher in his work. It is right that 
the teacher should know the wishes of those in authority, who are directly re- 
sponsible to the j^eople for the welfare of the schools. It is only when the 
rules and regulations leave nothing to the judgment of the teacher, and hold 
him responsible only along these narrow limits, that they are burdensome as 
fetters. 

The system, as generally administered, takes no notice of environment, and 
yet the teacher who is alive to his work considers the environment, not of the 
school bat of the individual scholar. "How came that boy here?" asked a 
city superintendent of a teacher ; " I suspended him yesterday." " I know 
it," she answered; "and I took him back this morning." "But that is against 
the rules." "I know that, but last night I visited his home, and I pity him 
more than I blame him. If you want to suspend him again you can, but I 
won't." The superintendent was wise enough to suspend the rules instead of 
the boy. 

Originality, to be a help, must be original, natural. Originality which is 
studied, which degenerates into oddities, which is made a matter of pride, is 
only a hinderance to the teacher. It is contagious, and great harm comes to 
the pupil through imitation. A man cannot safely make a fool of himself 
before children. The same is true of his individuality: it may be a source of 
irretrievable injury to the school. Unless there is behind it, and shining 
through it, a moral earnestness, an undisguised honesty of purpose, an open 
uprightness of action, a man of strong individuality is the most dangerous 
man whom we can put in charge of a school. 

We have already said that the welfare, the growth, the development of the 
child is the object of the school. The process of education is very largely 
the action of mind upon mind ; the influence of the superior upon the in- 
ferior ; of an intellect mature and strong upon one immature and weak. The 
individuality of the. teacher seeks to know, to permeate, to encompass the in- 
dividuality of the pupil.' Whatever comes between the teacher and the pu- 
pil, whatever tends to thwart, to divert, to limit this exchange of thought, works 
an injury beyond remedy. When mind acts upon mind, then education ren- 
ders education necessary. 

Entire, absolute, essential freedom in thinking, in choosing, in acting, is 
necessary to success in teaching. But this freedom embraces the taught as 
well as the teacher. The teacher must not deny to his pupil that freedom 



ORGANIZATIOX VS. OBIGIXALITY, 



which he claims for himself. He must be a master of principles, and not of 
methods only, so that his individuality may not overshadow, but rather stimu- 
late, the individuality of the child. A man should always claim the right to 
interpret his own thoughts, motives, and purposes. He should allow no one 
to do it for him. The child must be encouraged to attempt the same thing ; 
this alone will awaken in him a consciousness of his own resources. Life forces 
knowledge upon every man. The idiot is the only ignorant man. 

Tt i> an error in the system that it takes note, to so large a degree, of book 
knowledge in its courses of study. Knowledge derived from books is ofvgreat 
value: but it must be made subordinate to that fuller knowledge, which is 
written in a book of which each day is a page, every year a chapter, and life 
itself tin- complete volume. The educating power of life is always at our dis- 
posal. 

We sometimes speak of teaching the child to think. It is as natural for a 
child to think as it is for a tree to grow. It is not the part of the teacher to 
wake up mind, but to avoid putting it to sleep; it is not to administer stimu- 
lants, but to avoid administering narcotics. (Jive the child the same freedom 
to think and observe that the street Aval) has in his games, only guide him 
with skill ; throw off the swaddling-bands in which the system would swathe 
him; take advantage of his curiosity and wonder; take advantage also of 
what he already knows, and do not attempt to teach over again what he has 
already learned without your aid, and he will startle you by his progress, 
and by the readiness with which he will profit under your instruction. 

There is no place in which the individuality of the teaching can so make 
itself felt, and in which the individuality of the child is so thoroughly alive, 
as in the primary room. *And yet the first thing the primary teacher is re- 
quired to do in many schools is to crush the individuality of the child; to put 
him into a strait-jacket which the system has provided. The teacher is not 
to blame — the child's individuality is in the way; to strengthen it forms no 
part of the criterion by which her work is to be judged; it is useless as long 
as it cannot be graded by a certain per cent. 

The system should be broad enough to let the individuality of the teacher 
act through the individuality of the child, to develop moral intuitions; to 
cultivate the virtues; to strengthen the will; to render him strong and vigor- 
ous in thought, noble in purpose, hardy in action, and ready — when school- 
life is finished — to begin the work of educating himself. 

Again, the system places too much stress upon examinations as showing the 
literary qualifications of the teacher, and his consequent fitness for his work. 
It is necessary that the teacher possess knowledge of the branches which he 
is to teach ; but our schools are filled with teachers whose only qualification is 
knowledge. The examination tests knowledge, and having attained a. certain 
per cent., the teacher considers his calling and election sure. Consequently, 
candidates burden themselves with facts; they know certain things, but they 
have no conception of the truths which have their roots in things. Facts may 



6 THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

be buried under such a mass of rubbish as to lose their germinating power. 
I believe that persistent study and mastery of one branch will fit a person to 
teach any branch in which he would take the pains to prepare his work. 
These are some of the things which we ought to know regarding a candidate : 
"Under whose care have you studied?" "What books are your favorites?" 
" Can you express yourself in clear, vigorous language ? " " Can you govern 
by force of will?" "Can you awaken enthusiasm in the school?" "Can 
you inspire the pupils with the determination to do right, to lead virtuous 
lives, to be honest, God-fearing citizens ?" "Can you make the individuality 
of yourself, of the pupils, a power in your school?" The tendency of the 
system to ignore such questions, and to be guided entirely by the number of 
questions answered correctly in each branch, and to repeat the operation year 
after year, relentlessly, and without mercy, is evil and only evil continually. 
The technical examination repeated again and again, degrades teaching to the 
level of a trade, and helps the ignorant teacher to conceal his ignorance. 

I do not object to the rigid examination in the case of young teachers. But 
when that is once passed, the only conditions imposed upon the teacher should 
be enthusiasm, life, and growth. When these are absent, the teacher is dead. 

In the anti-slavery days, when Dr. Bailey was establishing the National 
Era, Chief Justice Chase, then a young man, wrote to him proposing to join the 
little band of Abolitionists in Washington. Bailey replied to him : " Bring 
freedom with you ; we want individualism." So I would say to every young 
teacher, as you enter your work : "Bring more than knowledge; bring free- 
dom with you — we want individualism in the school-room." The system 
greatly errs in that it takes cognizance of that which can be seen and heard, 
but not of that which can be felt. As flesh and blood cannot inherit the 
kingdom of God, so the mere possession of knowledge does not entitle one to 
any part in the inheritance of noble teachers. Scholarly teachers ought to 
be the most successful ; they always are, when scholarship leads onward and 
upward. But height of intellectual stature alone does not enable a teacher to 
walk as Saul among his brethren. 

Knowledge, to be of any value to the teacher, must become a permanent, 
increasing, living force in his work and character. Knowledge which is non- 
productive is dead. It has neither comeliness nor beauty that men should de- 
sire it. Knowledge which is alive, which strengthens the memory, which 
guides the judgment, which enlightens the reason, which fortifies the will — this 
is the knowledge which, acting through his individuality, makes the teacher 
a power in the school. 

The most practical thing in life is intense action. The most practical edu- 
cation is that which awakens the latent forces ; which brings out that which 
is within ; which puts the child in complete possession of himself, and gives 
him such mastery of his own powers and faculties, that whether he holds the 
plow, or shoves the plane, or smites the anvil, or wields the pen, he shall feel 
that there is no impassable barrier between him and the highest work which 



DISCUSSION. 



he knows he is capable of doing. The oak and the elm grow side by side ; 
fchey derive their nourishment from the same soil; they are warmed by the 
same sunshine, the same dew and rain fall upon each alike; yet the elm re- 
joices in its beauty, and the oak is proud of its strength. The individuality 
of the one in no way detracts from the individuality of the other. There is 
the same perpetual difference between children. One is gifted in one direction, 
and one in another; one has the voice of the singer, another the eye of the 
painter, and another the touch of the sculptor. Nature has endowed one with 
the taste of the student ; another has in embryo the habits of the business man. 
It is the law of inheritance — "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that 
which is born of the spirit is spirit." There must be law and system; but law 
must be administered in the interests of freedom, and system must be reduced 
to the position of a servant, whose purpose is to develop the individuality of 
the child, "each after its own kind." 

As long as the world lasts; as long as there are those who teach and those 
who are taught; as long as there is anything to learn, there will be one im- 
mutable law for all times and conditions. The Creator has given to every 
mind its own model, after the likeness of which it must be left free to develop. 
Ruskin says : " God has made every man fit for his place. Neither the artist 
nor the student, so far from being able to do the other's work, can even com- 
prehend the way in which it is done." The highest work of the teacher is to 
aid the pupil in his attempts to build for himself; to aid him as he tries to 
make the rough places smooth, the crooked places straight ; to aid him in his 
efforts to throw up a highway, whereon the youth may march to that royalty 
of manhood to which he was ordained of God when he was born into the flesh. 



DISCUSS I OX, 



Charles W. Bardeen, of Syracuse, New York : I cannot quarrel with 
my friend Mr. Sabin. I have knowm him longer than I have known any 
other person is this Association. My chum in college knew him, and thought 
he was the best teacher he ever knew. As I have followed his work out 
West, I have come to the conclusion that when he expresses an opinion it is 
safer to follow it than to fight it. And so, as I cannot quarrel with him, I will 
quarrel with his title. It is Organization and System versus Originality. It 
reminds me of the old question: "Will you have meat, or bread ?" But why 
bread or meat ? Why not bread and meat ? What we need most is system 
and individuality. Not quite so much individuality as Mr. Sabin wants. 
Our schools are for the bestowal of the greatest good to the greatest number ; 
and that can exist only when there is harmony throughout. If, as superin- 
tendent of a school, I had suspended a boy, and if, without consulting me, the 
teacher had assumed to restore him, that teacher would go, or I would. No 



8 THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

benefit to the individual pupil would atone for the injury to the school from 
such a conflict of authority. 

AVhen I am about half through with what I want to say, your President 
will strike his gavel and I shall have to sit down. You will be great losers. 
It would be better in my case if no time had been fixed, I know. But from 
what a flood of oratory that gavel has saved you in the case of these other 
fellows ! Therefore I must rejoice that our individuality is subordinate to a 
system. 

Take the pupil's work : In what kind of work is individuality most impor- 
tant ? Beyond any question, in literary work. The style is the smack of 
individuality in the writer, the difference between the way he says a thing 
and the way somebody else would say it. And it is about all there is of lit- 
erary work. Shall there then be no system in teaching literary work ? Shall 
we teach a child not to express himself oddly but to express himself first as 
truly, then as clearly and then as strongly as possible? Truth first, then 
clearness, then strength ; these are the ideals. The pupil is to be encouraged 
in his particular expression only when his particular expression is the best. 
Now to know which is the best, he must be instructed in a system of literary 
work that has come down to us from Aristotle and Cicero, rules of rhetoric 
which are as sound to-day as when they were written. If then he can rencleV 
himself in the flow of his fancy so as to give it vividness and originality, he 
will enjoy that freedom which rests upon proficiency. There is a freedom 
based on ignorance, too indolent to become j)roficient, too stupid to desire pro- 
ficiency. If the young teacher should come to me and complain that her in- 
dividuality had not sufficient scope, that she was restrained and hampered by 
a too-rigid course of study, I should ask her, "How well do you do this too- 
narrow work? Laying aside for the moment, considerations of the great 
things you might do under different conditions, how well do you do the little 
you are required to do under the present condition?" In my experience it is 
the unsuccessful teacher that complains of environments. There are thou- 
sands of teachers in this country, perhaps especially in this great West, ca- 
pable of living and acting beyond their work, and hundreds of those teachers 
are every year promoted to higher work. They have demonstrated their 
fitness by doing their low-grade work well, not by complaining that nobody 
could do it well. 

Twenty years ago teachers were urged by noble self-sacrifice to do their 
duty under the thought that their profession was second only to that of the 
college instructor. To-day, backed by some educational journals, they are ex- 
horted not to work too hard — to go fishing, go on vacations, and not allow 
anxiety for their work to overcome them; they are to take things easy. You 
know the story of the woman who took her son to a man who had advertised 
for an errand-boy. After some questions he said, "Well, Patsey, the trouble 
I have had with errand-boys was that they did not attend to business. Do 
you suppose if I send you a mile on an errand you will go straight there and 



DISCUSSION. 



straight back and bring me an answer within an hour? " Here the mother in- 
terfered: "Come on, Patsey," she said; "he don't want an errand-boy: he 
wants a cherubim." When I read some of these articles in some of the edu- 
cational journals I begin to think that if you ask a teacher to do honest work 
and reasonable service, he will think you are looking for a cherubim. I know 
that it is not so generally ; I know there is no better work dune anywhere 
than by the American teachers; but the tendency of thought sometimes is 
that way, and I should like to see it in the other direction. 

Two years ago the Emperor of Germany and the King of Saxony were 
present when the public-school teachers and children were drawn up in two 
lines. As I looked at those German teachers, paid officials in the government, 
office-holders, subordinates, in positions fixed for life, in a line where promo- 
tion was slow and possibilities narrow, I realized as I had never realized 
before, the advantages which the American teachers enjoy and should appre- 
ciate. Individuality hampered ? Why, this Association is hungry for a new 
thought whenever it may be advanced by any American teacher. Originality 
is given the widest scope in every city and every State. Superintendents are 
traveling over the land to find teachers with ideas of their own. Possibilities 
limited ? There never was so little limit to possibilities and to positions and 
to responsibilities and to salaries for teachers who have demonstrated their 
fitness for the high position which they are called upon to fill. 

I wish to say to complaining teachers, put your heart and soul and mind 
and strength into your work as it is ; and if it is too narrow for you, be very 
sure that a broader road will open up soon. 



■THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS.- 



School Issues of the Day. 

1. Denominational Schools. Discussion at the National Association, 1889, 
by Cardinal Gibbons, Bishop Keane, Edwin D. Meade, and John Jay. Pp. 
71. 25 cts. 

2. The Educational Valve of Manual Training, by Wm. T. Harris, LL.D., 
Commissioner of Education. Pp. 14. 15 cts. 

3. Art Education the True Industrial Education, by Wm. T. Harris, LL.D. 
Pp. 9. 15 cts. 

h. Methods of Instruction and Courses of Study in Normal Schools, by Thom- 
as J. Gray, LL.D., President Colorado State Normal School. Pp. 19. 15 cts. 

5. Pedagogical Chairs in Colleges and Universities, by B. A. Hinsdale, 
Ph.D., Professor of Pedagogy in the University of Michigan. Pp. 11. 15 cts. 

6. Opportunities of the Rural Poor for Higher Education, \yy Prof. James 
H, Canfield, University of Kansas. Pp. 24. 15 cts. 

7. Honorary Degrees as Conferred in American Colleges, by Prof. Chas. 
Foster Smith, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University. Pp. 9. 15 cts. 

S. The Present Status of the Township System, by C. W. Bardeen, Editor 
of the School Bulletin. With an appendix containing the Compulsory Law as 
introduced into the New York Legislature of 1890. Pp. 60. 40 cts. 

9. Effect of the College-Preparatory High School upon Attendance and 
Scholarship in the Lower Grades, by C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 5. 15 cts. 

10. " Organization " and " System " vs. Originality and Individuality in 
the Teacher, by Henry Sabin, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
Iowa, with opening of the discussion by C. W. Bardeen, Pp. 9. 15 cts. 

11. Examinations as Tests for Promotion, by Wm. H. Maxwell, Ph.D., 
Superintendent of Schools, Brooklyn, N. Y. Pp. 11. 15 cts. 

IS. Compulsory Laws and their Enforcement, by Oscar K. Cooper, State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Texas. Pp. 6. 15 cts. 

13. University and School Extension, by Wm. T. Harris, LL.D. Pp. 12, 
15 cts. 

lh. The General Government and Public Education throughout the Country, 
by Wm. T. Harris, LL.D. Pp. 8. 15 cts. 

15. Report on Pedagogical and Psychological Observation, by Wm. T. Har- 
ris, LL.D. Pp. 6. 15 cts. 

<S^W° The 15 Numbers will be sent to any address on receipt of $1.50, or 
bound in half leather for $2.00. 

Nos. 1 to 7 were read at the meeting of the National Association in 1889, 
and Nos. 9 to 15 at the meeting of the National Association in 1890. No. .8 
was read at the meeting of School Commissioners and Superintendents in 
New York City, 1888. 

C. W. BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. 



TLTE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS.- 



Biographies of Noted Educators. 

1. Pesfalozzi ; his Aim and Work. By Baron De Guimps. Translated by 
Margaret Cuthbertson Crombie. Cloth, 12mo, pp. 336, $1.50. 

" A teacher knowing nothing of Pestalozzi would be like the lawyer that 
has never heard of Blackstone. We commend this book strongly as specially 

adapted to younger students of pedagogy." — Ohio Ed' I Monthly, June. 1889. 

" To those who seek to know how one of the world's greatest reformers 
planned and executed his work, how this and that grand principle was 
wrought out, how truth was dissociated from error, this volume will be a 
d< lightful treasure. And there are many such who are not content to know 
the name and nothing more, but seek to understand the man and the motive. 
To such this book is indispensable."— Educational Courant, July, 1889. 

$. Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel. Translated and annotated by 
Emilie Michaelis and II. Keatley Moore. Cloth, 12mo, pp. 183, $1.50. 

" He writes so simply and confidentially that no one can fail to under- 
stand everything in this new translation. It would be of great benefit to 
American youth for fathers and mothers to read this book for themselves, 
instead of leaving it entirely to professional teachers."— Neiv York ILerald. 
Aug. 4, 1889. 

3. A Memoir of Roger Ascham, by Samuel Johnson, LL.D.; and Selec- 
tions from the Life of Thomas Arnold, by Bean Stanley. Edited, with 
Introductions and Notes by James S. Carlisle. Cloth, lCmo, pp. 252, $1.00. 

Besides the biography of Ascham in full this volume contains selections 
from "The Scholemaster," with fac-simile of the ancient title-page. From 
Stanley's " Life of Arnold " those chapters have been taken which refer to 
his work as a teacher, and are published without change. Thus the book 
gives in small compass and at a low price all that is most important in the 
lives of these two great teachers. 

4. John Amos Comenius, Bishop of the Moravians; his Life and Educa- 
tional Works. Cloth, 12mo, pp. 229, $1.00, 

Our recent republication of his famous Orbis Pictus has added interest 
to the life of the famous reformer. 

5. Essays on Educational Reformers. By R. BT. Quick. Cloth, lGmo, 
pp. 331, $1.50. 

Much the best edition of this famous work, which its vivacious style 
makes the most interesting of educational histories. 

6. Pedagogical Biography. A series of reprints from Quick's "Educa- 
tional Reformers," giving the most important sketches separately, in pam- 
phlet form, at a uniform price of 1 5 ets. each. There are 7 numbers, as follows: 

I. The Jesuits, Ascham, Montaigne, Batich, Milton. 
II. John Amos Comenius. III. John Locke. 

IV. Jean Jacques Rousseau. y. John Bemhard Basedow. 

VI. Joseph Jacotot. vn. John Henry Pestalozzi. 

C. W. BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




021 729 510 5 % 




. THE SCHOOL BULLETIN "j. "OBLIGATIONS. 

The Orbis Pictus of Comenius. 

This beautiful volume, (Cloth, 
8vo, large paper, top-edge gilt, 
others uncut, pp. 197, $3.00) is a 
reprint of the English edition of 
1727, but with reproduction of the 
151 copper-cut illustrations of the 
original edition of 1658. A copy 
of the rare original commands 
a hundred dollars, and this re- 
print must be considered the 
most important contribution to 
pedagogical literature yet made. 
It was not only the first book 
of object lessons, but the first 
text-book in general use, and in- 
deed, as the Encyclopaedia Bri- 
tannica states, "the first chil- 
dren's picture-book." 

EXTRACTS FROM CRITICISMS. 

The book is a beautiful piece of work, and in every way superior to 
most of the f ac similes we have so far been presented with.— N. Y. World, 

C. W. Bardeen, of Syracuse, has placed lovers of quaint old books un- 
der obligation to him.— N. Y. Sun. 

We welcome this resurrection of the OrUs Pictus Sensualum Pictus, 
which has lain too long in suspended amination. This master-piece of Com- 
enius, the prince of European educators in the 17th century, was the 
greatest boon ever conferred on the little ones in primary schools.— Nation. 

Comenius's latest editor and publisher has therefore given us both a 
curiosity and a wholesome bit of ancient instruction in his handsome re- 
print of this pioneer work. — Critic. *- 

The old wood illustrations are reproduced with absolute fidelity by a 
photographic process, and as the text follows closely letter by letter the old 
text, the book is substantially a copy of the rare original.— Literary World. 

It would be impossible to find an educational work which would exer- 
cise a stronger fascination upon the minds of the young.— Am. Book-maker. 

The reproduction gives an excellent idea of the work and makes a most 
interesting v< ilume for reference, especially as an illustration of the customs, 
manners, beliefs, and arts of the 17th century.— Independent. 

Evei y educational library must have a copy of the book, if it wishes to 
lay any claim whatever to completeness, and as the edition is limited, orders 
should be sent early. We say right here that twenty-five dollars will not 
take our copy unless we are sure we can replace it.— Educational Courant. 

* C. W. BARDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. 1 



